Five Questions With: Jonathan Friedman

Jonathan Friedman joined University Gastroenterology as the practice’s new chief operating officer in February. He brings more than 25 years of experience in health care administration to the role, having served as chief operating officer at Somnia Anesthesia and at Integrated Medical Partners in Wisconsin. 

PBN: What was the transition like from Wisconsin to Rhode Island?

FRIEDMAN: Transition is never easy, but the people in the community make it very easy to acclimate. As someone moving my family with two young children, we are very pleased with the high standards the local schools maintain. I am glad to exchange the harsh long winters of the Midwest for the more temperate climate and beaches of Rhode Island.

From our experience so far, Rhode Island provides more diversity that allows us to enjoy the culture and excitement of Providence while being able to enjoy the bucolic tranquility and Northeast colonial charm of many of the towns. My daughter Izzy is excited to take surfing lessons, which they do not provide at Lake Michigan.

- Advertisement -

PBN: What are some of your first priorities as you settle in at University Gastroenterology?

FRIEDMAN: Understanding the goals of the physicians and the organization. Crystalizing the desired outcomes takes time but is essential and frequently overlooked. A clear understanding and agreement of expectations prevents misalignment and ensures success.

Getting to know the people of the organization. You hire for talent and you train for skills and knowledge. I need to get to know the people outside of their work. By doing this, I get to understand their penchants, strengths, motivation and build lasting bonds.

Understanding the landscape. There are many great institutions collaborating to serve the health of the communities in Rhode Island. Reaching out to this vibrant network and becoming deeply involved will help myself and UGI to become even more aligned and a stronger partner.

PBN: You’ve helped at least one other practice grow significantly. What is the key to expanding in a competitive industry?

FRIEDMAN: Sun Tzu wrote, “Every battle is won or lost before it is ever fought.” The organizations that I helped to grow significantly established clear goals and expectations. Based on this, we developed a growth strategy to meet their goals.

One practice I helped grow wanted the ability to set up practices anywhere nationally. Based on this, we created the infrastructure and hired people to allow the practice to expand nationally to 20 states. Another group wanted to grow their practice within 100 miles of a major metropolitan city. Other practices that expanded successfully focused on other factors that drove strategy, such as whether to grow organically or through acquisitions, expanding into other specialties or expanding service lines.

Once you have established goals, you need to understand the culture of the organization and the culture you want to cultivate. As the organization expands, it becomes impossible to manage the various facet of the practice. You must ensure everyone in the organization is aligned and following the same set of values. The values of the organization guide decisions and behavior. I had the values of the practice framed and hung on the walls of every office.

Finally, I have always implemented and utilized a strong analytics platform that allows management to track key performance indicators essential to the practice. Many practices I have worked had difficulty getting access and reporting data. If you want to maintain a certain profit margin, for example, you must have the ability to monitor profit and religiously track as one of your key performance indicators.

PBN: Have you found Rhode Island to be a healthy growth environment for medical practices?

FRIEDMAN: Yes, but you need to define what is meant by growth. There are various ways you can grow that I mentioned previously. There are many well-managed health care organizations in Rhode Island that are motivated to collaborate, which provides a great opportunity to grow by partnering. Population health management provides an opportunity for medical practices to grow and meet the needs of Rhode Island’s communities.

PBN: Has your arrival at University Gastroenterology allowed physicians to focus more on patient care?

FRIEDMAN: The physicians at University GI are among the finest in the country. I would not say that my arrival has allowed them to focus more on patient care because they are obsessively focused on patient care that is ingrained in UGI’s culture. My arrival will help them to financially and operationally continue to uphold the highest standards of care in a very demanding and complex environment.

Elizabeth Graham is a PBN staff writer. She can be reached at Graham@PBN.com.